I understand that they will collect my name, work information and possibly additional information.  They will then call my office to verify... what, exactly?  I am a senior executive at a smallish firm, and I see two possible problems: (a) I don't want suspicious-sounding people calling the office asking after me, and (b) even if the callers aren't suspicious-sounding, the people who work for me will not give out any personal information to a stranger, not even verifying that I work there without knowing who is asking.

So what information do the services actually need to collect, and how do they collect it?  Are they discreet, professional-sounding, etc.?

I too wonder the same thing. Its technically illegal for an employer to even acknowledge that you work there, nonetheless give out personal information. Its a tort called "invasion of privacy" and they could get into a lot of trouble for doing so.

So, if you dont have providor references, and you dont want to give out personal information to these "verification" services, then how the hell do you get a girl to see you???

if you give me or a 3rd party your work phone number, we call and say, "Joe Blow, please."

The switchboard/receptionist is simply going to put the call through. You answer, we say "Hi, Joe!" and that's about it.

Unless you're an undercover cop, etc, there are very few place who quizz you on why you're asking for any individual. Just doesn't happen.

with years of experience verifying great fellows,

Tabu

I work in a smallish firm too, I make sure to tell the provider what to say if the receptionist asks "who's calling"...usually a fictitious name from a real customer of ours.

I'll digress with a cool story...a provider did the verification call and reached my office...she said "Hi [my name] this is [her name] do you have a second to speak in private"...I said "Sure" and closed my door...she then proceeded to talk dirty for at least 5 minutes.

It was SOOOOO hot and really kick started the session.

She closed the door and conducted an "in depth" interview in my my office.

Oh crap, that was a dream I had, sorry.

Sure if you work at a regular type job, but what if your a Lawyer, Doctor, CEO, etc.

Receptionists at these type of employers WILL NOT simply "put the call through". They will screen first, and most likely never put your call through, but simply take a message.

In any event, I dont think thats really the concern. The concern is how the hell can you see a providor for the first time without giving out personal information or using a "verification" site.

I dont care how many times someone says the information is for "verification purposes only and will then be discarded". The fact is that there is ALWAYS a trail, and when the person is faced with criminal charges or handing over their hard drive, Im pretty sure theyll hand over their hard drive with all of your info on it.

And yes, regardless of what you think, depending on the state, even a "verification site" can be charged with accomplice liability if the cops really want to f$ck you over.

My staff ALWAYS asks who is calling and if they don't recognize the caller they will often ask "what is this regarding too". I take almost all calls (as clients refer other clients to me) but my staff is good at their own screening.

Absolutely, if I know someone is calling and too can give them some intel to get through easily. Also if someone just said "it's Tabu" and when ask who??? Just say it's personal and you're in like flint. They would never question a personal call.

Exactly - I don't work in a client-facing business, and a huge volume of incoming calls are cold-calls from other businesses who want to waste our time.  Everyone in the firm is aggressive about screening.

But I get the gist.  They just want to know that I work where I say I do, nothing complicated.  In that case I suppose I can assume they will go about it in a professional manner (by the way my primary concern is the 3rd party verifiers, since they are faceless institutions - if an actual provider is going to call I can obviously guide them through).

Thanks for the info, everyone.

I don't agree at all with several points...I'm a VP at a mid sized company and I would never dream of telling someone that works at my company NOT to put a call through to me.  Worst case I have my phone on DND and the caller gets a voicemail.  Likewise, no one working for me would question why someone was calling me.

Regarding the LE thing...if I'm not mistaken, in states where solicitation is a misdemeanor it really doesn't matter if you are on a hard drive the act has to be witnessed by LE to be a crime.  If its a felony that's a bit of a different story but history has shown that its a stretch for LE to go to that extent (unless of course a public figure is involved and its an election year)